This invention relates to mechanical equipment generally, and particularly to index drives.
Index drives of the type in this invention are intended to produce step-by-step ("indexed") rotary motion of a sprocket or ribbed pulley or the like, via an endless chain or synchronous belt respectively. The sprocket or pulley may be connected in any desired conventional fashion to produce whatever indexed motion is actually required.
In the manufacturing of index drives, as in that of other mechanical equipment, the general situation is, the better the performance, the higher the cost.
Despite numerous past solutions, there remains a need for an improved index drives which is simple, robust, effective, and inexpensive. Existing index drives tend to be too expensive, too ineffective, or both.